


The Heart of Nara Shikamaru

by heimai



Series: Figure It Out [2]
Category: Naruto
Genre: Comedy, F/M, Romance, She deserves good things, idk man!!!! i just love temari!!!!, ok
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-17
Updated: 2018-05-31
Packaged: 2019-02-15 23:31:53
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,031
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13041804
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heimai/pseuds/heimai
Summary: Temari is prepared for her diplomatic trip to Konoha to be mind-numbingly boring, but when Shikamaru is assigned to escort her around, it's hard to resist having a little fun.(It's All In Your Head, from Temari's perspective.)





	1. A Woman On A Mission

**Author's Note:**

> Before you read this: You Should Probably Read "It's All In Your Head" First! It comes first in the series. Everything will make more sense!!
> 
> But do whatever you'd like! This is for Meigan, blessed friend, and to save me from the pits of winter and to contribute to the ship that never. has. enough. content. I have no idea if anyone is even interested in reading this, but shit boy, I love Temari, and here you fuckin go!

As Temari finally approached the Hokage's Tower that had been looming in the distance since her initial arrival in Konoha, she sighed, shifting the fan on her back. It’d been a few months since she’d made a diplomatic visit to the Leaf Village, and while she supposed it’s it was mostly a formality and they weren’t in the middle of a war, the trip was probably going to be a little boring.

Just meetings, talking, niceties; all things Temari was good at and all things that could quickly grow tedious. She stated her purpose to the chunins guarding the huge double doors that serves as entrance to the building, and walked inside, warm as opposed to the brisk air of the morning.

Footsteps sounded through the empty halls and Temari climbed the steps, stopping just outside of Tsunade’s office. There was no noise, the room soundproof as it should be, but she could sense the chakra inside; four shinobi total.

She knocked.

“Come in,”she heard the Hokage’s voice call, and she pushed open the door to see-

Shikamaru.

...Shikamaru.

He looked worn down, probably by the hour, but what was really catching her eye was the expression of true fear etched across his face. It was if Temari was a ghost and had materialized through a wall rather than walked through the door like a regular human with a job to fo. She almost smiled as she walked to stand before Tsunade.

So maybe it was wrong that Temari's mere appearance in a room made Nara Shikamaru react as if a kunai had been twisted between his ribs, and maybe even worse that she found it so damn flattering. Oh well.

"Hokage, good morning." Temari let her back bend in the customary bow to Tsunade-sama, who nodded at her in return with a smile. She straightened, and turned towards Shikamaru

The chunin looked to be feeling some mixture of shock and pain, with a side of definite attentiveness, creating a strange sick expression on his usually calm features. And still, Temari wasn't offended, albeit a little confused. She was used to striking fear in the heart's of men, but not Shikamaru. Maybe they'd just grown up a little. He certainly had, at least.

For a boy with legs looking like they were itching to run, he stared intensely, almost murderously into her eyes. Temari stared right back, daring him to slip, until he finally did. 

It was just the flick of his eyes, once, twice, barely noticeable to the untrained eye. To a kunoichi, however, Shikamaru had just flipped the switch on a blinking light above his head, INTERESTED in burning red neon. Why he risked such a move, she wasn't sure. In front of the Hokage, too. Didn't he know he would get caught?

No matter. Temari was in a generous mood, and... She did a little of her own looking as well, if they were playing this game. There was no denying Shikamaru was attractive, especially now, all flustered like he was. Broad shoulders, strong arms, eyes intent, perceptive. Temari was fully aware the Nara's was a clan of geniuses, but if she was Hokage, she wouldn't mind keeping Shikamaru around just to look at.

She’s kidding, obviously. Kind of.

Apparently, he could dish it out but not take it. Typical. "Temari," he said stiffly, not exactly a greeting, more of just a fact. Acknowledging her presence was certainly a start, at least.

"Shikamaru," she returned. The silence was all-encompassing around them, the awkwardness creeping into even the tight shell that Temari had grown from years of living with young Gaara. She spent what felt like hours locked in the most savage of stare-downs with both her siblings, and regardless of feeling a little childish, Temari was in no place to lose. If he was being prompted to speak, or rather prompting her, he was trying and failing.

"Well," Tsunade finally said, tone unreadable. "I take it you're acquainted."

_ Hm. Acquainted. _

_ Quite. _

"Yes." Temari nodded. "We've worked together in the past. She eyed Shikamaru again, to check if he- Yes, he did. He definitely remembered. And it didn't look like they were the only two privy to this information, as the Akimichi boy (Choji?) was laughing far too much to have no knowledge of why this was so painfully awkward. Shikamaru kept shooting him malice-filled glances, but Choji's efforts to quiet himself just made it worse, tears brimming in his eyes.

"Take a day of rest, Temari," advised Tsunade, and Temari decided that didn't sound like the worst idea, especially after 3 days of the desert. She loved her home, yes, but it made travel hell. "You start tomorrow, got it?" This was directed to her subordinate, who nodded haltingly.

"Yes, ma'am," Shikamaru responded, assenting with the body language of a man who'd rather be Akatsuki bait. Still, Temari wasn't offended. She was endeared.

He flicked his fingers towards the door, a direction to his still-giggling friend, and left without another word. Before the door closed completely, she caught Choji's voice, still warm with laughter, "Shikamaru, what was that? You-" It clicked shut.

"I am..." Tsunade sighed, while Shizune smiled weakly and shrugged, hugging her pig. "I apologize for the behavior of my chunin. He is truly very capable." Temari smiled at this. Shikamaru certainly was, she knew well, even if he seemed to have lost all bearing for the time being. That’d have to be investigated later.

"I know he is, Tsunade-sama, you don't have to reassure me. Shikamaru and I work well together."

"Still," the Hokage grumbled, "Shikaku has some explaining to do about the manners of that child."

Temari let out a genuine laugh, before bowing again to the woman before her. "Thank you, for welcoming me into your village. The Sand is pleased with our mutual alliance. I'll take my leave."

 

 


	2. Subtlety Is For The Weak

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> idk man!! she knows what she's about!! i hope ya'll think it's ok!!!!

"Your son," she overheard Tsunade grumble to Shikaku after the first meeting the following morning. Shikaku raised an arching eyebrow, looking fully prepared for whatever complaint was about to come. The blonde woman stood up from the table and handed him the file she was holding." _Your son_ , he takes after you." Temari busied herself with her own papers, but listened steadily.

Shikaku still looked mildly confused, before Tsunade flicked a finger in Temari's direction, and a look of realization came over him. Their eyes met, Shikaku's revealing nothing, and then turned back to the Hokage, voice lowered, though only slightly. "Oh. That. How did he behave?"

"Stiff as a board all morning, and called me ma'am. _Twice_." Apparently this wasn't a common occurrence between Shikamaru and his superior. Figures. he didn't seem like he was much interested in authority, at least when it came to work.

Shikaku's grumbling laugh met her ears, sounding much like Shikamaru's and drawing her attention back. "Did he now? That does remind me of myself at that age. With Yoshino."

Temari had no idea who Yoshino was, and though she was aching to, she couldn't really ask without acknowledging the fact that she was obviously eavesdropping. That wasn't the most flattering activity to be caught doing as a negotiator.

"You're telling me. The day you met Yoshino we udderly lost Konoha's most promising strategist for a good week and a half. The awkward silences you, and now your son, have put me through in your youth are fucking ridiculous. Is it just you two, or the whole Nara clan?"

"Yes, we all act like that, Tsunade-sama. Such is the curse of genius."

"Right. Smart idiots. Make him get a clue, would you?"

A laugh, again. "Afraid I can't do that. He wouldn't listen anyway."

A sigh. "I suppose not. He's just- Hey! No smoking in the meeting room."

"The meeting's over," Shikaku protested with the click of a lighter as Temari slipped through the door, sensing she'd heard enough.

"No. Smoking."

 

"I feel like before it gets too awkward, we should talk."

Temari hoped Shikamaru wouldn't point out that it was already awkward, _had been_ awkward for a long time. For him, definitely, but Temari couldn't help feeling a little embarrassed as well, even if she wouldn't show it.

She didn't really... just hook up with people. Some people could do that, enjoy it, but the lack of control was something that felt wrong for her. This made the fact that she'd chosen to make out with Shikamaru all those months ago was worse, made him an exception to the rule.

Everything was different with him, frustratingly so, irresistibly so. Temari didn't really believe in weak knees or butterflies, but he had kissed her so well, like they'd done it before a thousand times before, and she felt it everywhere. It was a shame it had to be on the ground, in the Leaf Village training grounds, but they'd had this horrible tension going the whole time they were trying to fight, they weren’t much inclined to move anywhere else.

it'd started with an invitation to spar (who was she kidding, it was a challenge) and ended up with her above him, binding his wrists to the dirt, laughing. She explained, in detail, how she had gotten the upperhand, taunts slipping easily from her mouth with no fire beneath them. Until he told her, with a smirk, that _he let her win_. Again. And then kissed her. And she kissed him back and opened her mouth and freed his hands and...

Well. The details don't matter. Or so she was convincing herself.

"Alright. What about?"

Temari nearly rolled her eyes. At the very least she wasn't alone in the _convincing_ , but she could so without the _pretending_.

"We kissed?" she prompted, and then laughed. "I made fun of you for losing so quickly, remember? You seemed to be into that."

Shikamaru squinted. "I... really don't want to talk about that. And I was not into it," he muttered, folding his arms, "it just so happened that one event occurred before the other."

Temari shrugged, remembering the way Shikamaru had flushed at her teasing and thought otherwise. "If you say so. I was only doing you a favor since your girlfriend wasn't there to nag you _like all women do_."

Kankuro had once told her that the hottest boys were always vaguely sexist. This came very late at night, when the siblings had been pouring over files and the conversation had gone from business to personal as the night hours grew on. It came out as groaned complaint, and Temari had glancing at her brother, face scrubbed clean and brown hair falling in his eyes, guessing he was referencing some failed conquest.

The youngest agreed, and she'd slapped him on the head with a scroll, as she hated to think about how Gaara, her littlest brother, may have come to this conclusion, but with a sigh, Kankuro could possibly be right. Shikamaru probably wouldn't appreciate this observation much, though.

Shikamaru ignored the jab, to her surprise, and instead answered the question that she hadn't fully realized she'd been asking. "I didn't have a girlfriend."

With only a twitch of her fingers, she suddenly realized she had never even stopped to check if Shikamaru was dating someone. He'd never asked if there was someone waiting for her back in the Sand. As she'd said before, Temari hadn't really been planning it. Regardless, she was glad, and hoped she hadn't been completely obvious.

"Shocking." He didn't flinch at her heavy sarcasm, but narrowed his eyes and grit his teeth.

"I hope this isn't how you handle the rest of your diplomatic relations."

"I'm not," Temari promised, "I'm very professional." A pause. "So, no girlfriend now either?"

She wanted to wince at how blatant that sounded, but Shikamaru didn't seem to read it that way. "No," he said simply.

A shrug and a smile was all she could offer to cover the small burst of excitement that lit in her chest. Temari was stupidly pleased to discover Shikamaru was single, so she turned heel and let her face settle before her face revealed any more than it already had.

She could nearly hear him cursing her under his breath as he struggled to keep up.

 


	3. Rise and Shine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> its been FOREVER since I've posted but I swear!!!!!!!!! I will finish if ppl want me to.. Let me know!

Temari was awoken by a sharp knock on her apartment door that jolted her from a dream she instantly forgot. With a yawn, she sat up, growling at the clock next to her as another knock sounded. It was too damn early for whoever was bothering her to be bothering her, and she swung her legs out of bed and marched straight to the door.

After looking through the peephole and sighed. Looking down at herself, she was wearing something that was perhaps a little more flimsy than she'd usually answer the door in, but to her defense, it was much warmer in Suna, and it was just Shikamaru, anyway.

"What are you doing here, Shikamaru?" She blinked a few times against the early light before focusing on the shinobi before her, looking tired and more than a little perturbed.

He looked at his watch. "I'm here on time."

Ah. So he was. Nonetheless. "Yeah, on the Leaf Village's scheduled time, not mine."

"Does it matter?"

Temari squinted at him. Of course it mattered. She was in no way vain, but just as Kankuro never walks out the door without purple face paint and Gaara would die before being caught without the signature smudges of charcoal black, Temari will have four hair ties in her hair and winged eyeliner before Shikamaru could even think about getting her to start the day. That's just how it was.

"I just woke up and haven't remotely gotten ready, so to me it does." She motioned him inside. "Wanna come in?" Temari walked away from the door, not waiting for an answer, just leaving it open as an invitation. It took him a moment, but he eventually followed her, perfectly emotionless.

"It's so early," Temari groaned, opening her refrigerator. "Do you sleep at all?"

There was a frustrated huff from behind her, barely noticeable, and she wondered what that could be about. Shikamaru had been known as someone who could be lazy (Temari herself knew from experience) but he looked dead on his feet.

"I'm being professional, remember?"

Well, that was clearly an excuse, but she'd let it slide. It had only been a day, but for a boy so smart, he hadn't caught onto a single one of her tips. Asking if he was dating anyone, gently bumping his arm in conversation, smiling- Temari was  _ smiling _ . Did that have no impact on Shikamaru?

This wasn't a terribly important mission, just the handling of information only a select few had access to and upkeep on relations with the Leaf (even though the friendship between Naruto and Gaara as did that nearly all on its own). Because it wasn't terribly important, and ignoring as many hang-ups as she'd like, maybe Temari could have a mission of her own.

Considering this, considering the shinobi standing on her threshold, she hopped up on the counter and grabbed an orange. When was the last time she'd had a little fun, anyway? Kankuro would live for this, she knew it, and she might come back with some stories for him.

She crossed her legs and picked an orange out of a bowl, digging her fingernails into the skin to peel it away and separating the fruit into slices. It brought her back to a conversation Kankuro had with pre-Kazekage Gaara, one brother desperately trying to explain to another why  _ you just can't eat a popsicle like that Gaara I can't tell you why but just don't _ .

Kankuro never said anything to _ Temari _ about that, though.

She picked up a slice, bit into it slowly, and sucked into it. her head tilted slightly as she swallowed, and when she met Shikamaru's eyes again, she had his attention.

Temari wanted to smirk, watching his reaction as she licked the juice from her fingers. This was way, way too easy. He wasn't rising to the bait, however, the dare to come a little closer, to taste the sweet citrus on her lips.

But the attention was enough. He was interested, at least. That was enough.

"What? I told you I didn't have to get ready." She doubted he was staring at her clothes in anything but appreciation, but Shikamaru was making this too fun to resist. 

"Sorry."

"I probably should, if we're going to be leaving." She jumped down from the counter and Shikamaru let out a breath. As if it was over.

She walked (stalked, rather) across the living room to her small bedroom, pushing the door shut. Kind of shut. Well, not really shut at all. It clicked lightly against the door frame adn then swung back open.

Another dare for Shikamaru, even though he wasn't much of a risk-taker at all.  _ What has gotten into you?  _ Gaara would sigh and Kankuro would cheer her on. 

She couldn't make him do anything, that was for sure. But she could gladly mess around.

Ignoring whatever Shikamaru might be thinking or doing, she pulled the soft (nightgown) over her head, tossing it across the room. The full-length mirror in front of her showed everything, every scar and roll and all the results of her training, and she rather liked it. Her underwear wasn't anything special, but it had never had any reason to be, and that was nothing to be self-conscious of. She put her hands on her hips, and then let them fall.

The floor creaked, though only slightly, and Temari hoped it was her that was making Shikamaru a poor excuse for a shinobi. She looked up, meeting his eyes through the mirror. he looked... Terrified. Probably expecting to get the shit kicked out of him.

Instead, Temari sniffed, and when right back to examining herself. She had absolutely no intention of closing the door now, nor was she going to acknowledge the silent understanding between them. He left when she tugged at the bra strap on her shoulder, and she heard the front door open and shut with a strange mix of amusement and disappointment.


End file.
